Watching and being watched

We are pleased to announce the performance Watching and being watched by Hannie van den Bergh and Jan van den Berg on June 24 (Sat) and 25 (Sun), as a result of their artist in residency at Studio Kura.

For this special occasion the noh performer Toshikazu Marumachi (from Hiroshima) will perform with them.

Hannie van den Bergh and Jan van den Berg are artists from Amsterdam, the Netherlands. They combine their qualities as visual artist/designer and storyteller/film director to work on performances in the Netherlands and abroad. During the last 15 years, they’ve been researching the long-lasting Japanese – Dutch relationship, and the mutual exchange of goods, science and culture between both countries. In this performance they’ll present their experiences from visits and meetings in Kyushu: Nagasaki (Deshima), Hirado, Kumamoto and Fukuoka area. The performance will deal with notions such as ‘watching and being watched’.

Toshikazu Marumachi is a Noh theatre performer from Hiroshima, with a background in traditional Noh-theatre and experiences in contemporary performing arts. In April 2017 he was participant in Deshima AIR (artist in residency) in the Netherlands.

Hannie van den Bergh is an artist and designer, working in the field of social design and community art. She visited Japan as an AIR in 2004 (Rice+ Tokyo) exploring new ways of mapping based on workshop and field research; in 2012 (KCCC Kyoto) research on new opportunities for the Machiya – based on the senses; and in 2016 (Tenjinyama Art Studio Sapporo) doing research on the diary of a Dutch Vessel sailing around Hokkaido in 1643. www.studio-hb.nl
Since 2013 she is curator of Deshima AIR: an Artist in Residency in the Netherlands for Japanese artists. Deshima AIR is an artist based initiative to maintain and strenghen the cultural relationship between the Netherlands and Japan. http://www.deshima-air.com/

Jan van den Berg is a documentary theatre- and filmmaker in the borderland of performing arts and science, dealing with the limits of the naked eye and intellect. In 2005 he created a theatre show based on his visit to the Super-Kamiokande experiment (スーパーカミオカンデ), Gifu Prefecture. His documentary-film HIGGS – into the heart of imagination (in co-direction with Hannie van den Bergh) premièred at the prestigious IDFA documentary film festival and was awarded the Film&Science Amsterdam Award 2012. His performig arts oeuvre has been praised for being a “storytelling session of genius”.